12w4d oh, weight

It’s official. I no longer fit into any of my pre-pregnancy pants anymore. I’ve gained nearly NINE pounds in my first trimester…and according to my pregnancy books, most women gain only 1-4 pounds totalduring the first 3 months, and 2 to 4 pounds per month during the 4th to 9th months (second and third trimesters).

I don’t get it. How did I gain so much weight? I don’t think that I’ve been hitting the fridge more often than usual. Maybe I’ve been over doing it with the Cheez-Its?!

I asked my OB about it during our last visit because I’ve been paranoid that I’m gaining an unhealthy amount of weight, but she said that since I was a bit under-weight prior to getting pregnant, my body is just building extra cushion for the baby to grow in. My weight should stabilize and normalize over the course of my pregnancy.

Here is an interesting chart that details where all the weight goes during baby-growing:

Where Does the Extra Weight Go During Pregnancy?

Baby

8 pounds

Placenta

2-3 pounds

Amniotic fluid

2-3 pounds

Breast tissue

2-3 pounds

Blood supply

4 pounds

Fat stores for delivery and breastfeeding

5-9 pounds

Uterus increase

2-5 pounds

Total

25 to 35 pounds

I can’t believe that at the end of 9 months, I will gain close to 40 pounds (although at the rate I’m going, it’s looking more likely that I’ll gain 140). Not that I’m complaining – I’d gladly gain 1000 pounds for Baby Z. But I’ve been nearly the same size and weight since I turned 15 years old, and it’s definitely going to be an adjustment to look down and suddenly see 40 pounds of extra flesh protruding from my stomach. (And toes? What toes?)

Call me crazy, but I actually wish my belly were a tad bigger right now! I feel as though I’m in such an awkward phase at the moment – my pants no longer fit, but I also don’t look very pregnant yet. If I’m going to gain all this extra weight, then I want to at least look like I’m having a baby, and not as though I’ve been binge eating in Willy Wonka’s factory, dammit!

I guess in the meantime, I need to start investing in these belly bands. My friends tell me that these sexy things are often used during pregnancy. They are designed to provide belly support later in pregnancy, but they can also be used in early pregnancy by allowing you to wear your pre-pregnancy pants just a tad longer. You can keep your pants unbuttoned and possibly even half zipped, and the belly bands are tight enough to flatten the pants to “look normal” and to keep them relatively secure at your waist. Hot, eh?

Until my belly bands arrive in the mail though (and Amazon tells me they won’t for another two weeks), if you happen to see me walking around as though my pants are unzipped and unbuttoned, it’s probably because they are indeed unzipped and unbuttoned. I’m taking the hobo-look to a whole new (literal) level.